The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of dahlia grown for use in mixed combinations, beds and the landscape. The new variety is known botanically as Dahlia variabilis and will be referred to hereinafter by the cultivar name ‘Sunfire’.
The genus Dahlia is in the family Compositae. The flower of ‘Sunfire’ is classified as an Informal Decorative Dahlia, consisting of twisty, curvy or wavy ray florets. The ray florets are arranged in whorls surrounding a central cluster of disc florets.
The inventor's Dahlia breeding program was commenced in 2007 in Commentry in central France. The objective of the breeding program is to combine certain desirable commercial characteristics of plant habit and flowers. The breeding programme is aimed at developing compact, naturally dwarf growth habits which do not require manual pinching or use of plant growth regulators, and large flowers with novel colors or color combinations including stripes and splashes.
The inventor's breeding stock consists of an isolated plot of dahlia varieties which have been selected or raised by the inventor from previous generations. The inventor allows open pollination of the breeding stock. Seed from the open pollinations is harvested and stored in October and November and sown in March of the following year, planted into the open ground in June and evaluated and, if very promising, set aside in August. Those selections which the inventor considers worthy of introduction are multiplied in the fall of the year of selection in the inventor's tissue culture laboratory. ‘Sunfire’ arose from the breeding program described above and was selected by the inventor in August 2009. The inventor selected ‘Sunfire’ for its large informal decorative flowers which are predominantly yellow in color and which exhibit bright orange-red stripes and splashes throughout the inflorescence.
The parents of ‘Sunfire’ are unknown and have not been released.
The first asexual reproduction of ‘Sunfire’ was conducted in fall 2010 using stem cuttings at the inventor's nursery in Commentry, France. Subsequent asexual propagation was carried out by stem cuttings and by in vitro cuttings in the inventor's laboratory. Under careful observation, the distinguishing characteristics have been determined stable, uniform, and to be reproduced true to type in subsequent generations of asexual propagation.